Information is just through from the British Royal Automobile Club which is hosting the 2012 annual Celebration of Motoring with the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the RAC Future Car Challenge and the Regent Street Motor Show. These are to be staged in London during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Year.
The FIA award-winning annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, which celebrates the dawn of motoring, is the world’s longest running motoring event. One hundred and sixteen years since it was first run, the event will take place on Sunday 4 November and the maximum entry of 550 pre-1905 vehicles will once again be reached months before the closing date. The largest number of overseas entrants ever has already been confirmed and the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Concours d’Elegance – arguably the best in the world – will feature more than 100 pre-1905 vehicles from outside the UK, including entrants from the USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and South Africa.
London to Brighton.
Ben Cussons, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee, says: “The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run gets more and more popular each year and we’re expecting another full entry of 550 pre-1905 vehicles for the 2012 event. Each year we choose a different country for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run to celebrate and in 2012 it is Great Britain, in recognition of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. There will clearly be a lot of interest from overseas in events taking place here this year and we have already had more entries from abroad than ever for the 2012 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.”
This year’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run has clearly attracted a large international participation because it is the third world-class event in England this year following the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
On Saturday afternoon 3 November, around 100 of the pre-1905 cars take over Regent Street (closed for the event) in central London for a Concours d’Elegance. This display is a free-to-view show for the public and is an opportunity to see the machines that will be taking part in the Veteran Car Run on Sunday.
During the afternoon, these veteran cars will be joined by low energy use (electric, hybrid, hydrogen and ICE) vehicles arriving from Brighton having taken part in the Royal Automobile Club’s annual RAC Future Car Challenge. The official finish line is in Regent Street and so is a good place to spectate. This annual free show will include iconic vehicles to celebrate the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries of motoring.
The first car in the Veteran Car Run leaves Hyde Park on Sunday 4 November at sunrise (07:02 a.m.) and the 550 drivers taking part will attempt to cross the finish-line in Madeira Drive, Brighton before 4.30 p.m. As one of the largest free events in the country it will be supported by tens of thousands of spectators along the entire length of the route.
The Royal Automobile Club, which was founded in 1897 by Frederick Richard Simms and given the Royal title by King Edward VII in 1907, is pleased to welcome Bonhams and Tindle Newspapers as joint title sponsors of the 2012 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Bonhams will once again host the annual Veteran Car Run auction as well as a reception and hospitality for entrants. This is the 19th year that the newspaper group proprietor, Sir Ray Tindle, has sponsored the event. EFG International, RAC Motoring Services, Hagerty, Abels, Regent Street Association and Kuoni continue their partnerships with the Veteran Car Run and the RAC warmly welcomes their continued support.
